Official figures show that employment growth in the economy ground to a halt in the second quarter of this year, mainly due to a sharp drop in construction jobs.
The Central Statistics Office also said unemployment rose by more than 15% over the year to 115,500, with all of the increase due to male unemployment.
The CSO's Quarterly National Household Survey showed that just over 2.1m people were in work in the quarter, just 0.3% higher than in the same period last year.
While the number of women in work grew by 21,500, the number of men working dropped by 14,500 over the year.
Employment in the construction sector fell by 26,800, or 9.5%, compared with a year earlier. This contrasts with a growth rate of more than 6% at the same time last year.
Other sectors still showed growth, however, with the biggest increase of 16,200 coming in the wholesale and retail sector.
Health and finance also showed jobs growth, but employment in the manufacturing and hotels and restaurants sectors dropped.
